Homeschool and Preschool??

 
So I have had a few people recently ask about our decision to homeschool AND do preschool with the kiddos (and one friend who even suggested blogging about it). :) So here we go!! :) Sending them to preschool two days each week was actually a very last-minute decision, as I have been preparing and planning to homeschool them for awhile now. Basically, being six months pregnant and caring for a 2-year-old and a VERY energetic 3-year-old was just about to drive me insane. The thought of schooling them three days a week (like we orginally planned), pretty much made me want to curl up and go to bed forever. Haha!

Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, or my lack of energy and ability to keep up with the housework, or the CRAZY challenging stage that my kiddos are going through right now. Whatever it is...I was pretty close to losing my mind. I called Kevin crying one day several weeks ago, and more or less told him that something had to change...and soon. I was struggling and felt like I was failing at every one of my responsibilities...as wife, mother, home manager, etc. I was definitely hormonal, and looking back, it wasn't really THAT bad. But on bad days (surely I'm not the only one who has those from time to time), I just feel like giving up.

So one day, I decided that I need some ME time...a couple times a week. The kids need to be gone. I need to be alone...to do whatever my little heart desires. And I may or may not have entertained the thought of sending the kids to full-time daycare and go find myself a full-time job during this hormonal episode of mine. ;) So we tossed around different ideas - should we send them to an actual preschool two days a week (for two and half hours each day) or just do daycare one full day a week? We ended up going with the preschool, even though it meant less time for me.

It was for two reasons, really. First, it was actually less expensive, which given that we are a one-income family is important. Second, I liked the idea of them being in an enriching learning environment in case my pregnant self (and soon to be new mommy self) isn't able to keep up with the demands of homeschooling during this time. I spent money and have lots of resources to homeschool for preschool, and it would be a waste to not use it. And I could hear it in Kevin's voice...he didn't say it exactly this way, but I could tell he was thinking, "Um...you just spent all this time and money preparing our home for school and now you're going to send them to somebody else to educate them? I don't think so, babe! You can do this!" :)

And he's absolutely right! I CAN do this. And I will. So rather than doing our homeschool curriculum three days each week, I'm only doing two. I will be coordinating it all with what they are doing at their preschool. We're only in our first week, and so far, it's working beautifully. I don't feel as stressed. I have time for me a couple times each week. I don't feel the need to prepare as much work for them, as they're getting a lot at preschool. And they are meeting and making new friends! It's a win-win for us all. :)

And I also won't feel as bad about taking quite a bit of time off when the baby comes. If all I can manage is reading them a couple of books and talking about the letter of the week at times, then I won't beat myself up...because they're being taught and growing at preschool as well! :) I am SO thankful that we can afford this right now, because while it was the least expensive option, it is still quite a bit of money for two of them. But as I pleaded with Kevin, convincing him that this is what I needed, I told him that you just cannot put a price tag on my sanity! Haha! Thankfully, he agreed. :)

So there you have it. We are doing both homeschool AND preschool because...well...this mama was SPENT. Hehe. I needed a break, and waited until the last minute to figure that out. But now that we're doing it, it's actually turning out to be a pretty sweet setup. The kids are loving it, and so am I!